DOTD to help with some road improvements in Livingston Parish

DENHAM SPRINGS, LA (WAFB) - Roads have been a rough patch for leadership in Livingston Parish. Now, it appears the state will be footing the bill for some projects there.

The Department of Transportation and Development has several projects that will be up for bid this year in Livingston. One of those is repairing the bridge on Wax Road, in Denham Springs. The bridge, neighbors say, has been closed since the summer of 2013.

"It is very much an inconvenience because we use this Carter's Grocery, over on 16," said Ronnie Blanchard. "we have to go all the way around to get to it."

Others, who live on the Greystone side of the closure say they are traveling an extra eight miles to get where they need to go because of the closure. Some of those homeowners tell 9 News the parish-owned bridge was blocked last summer. They say they were told, by parish employees, that the bridge would be worked on by the end of the year.

"Oh everyone's concerned about it. The last I heard, they were going to let it stay shutdown for two years," Blanchard said.

A spokesperson for DOTD says the parish did come to the state for help. We're told until DOTD obtained proper plans and wetland permits from the parish, the bidding process could not begin. It is now to be bid out in May 2014, and the parish will be required to pay 20% of the costs.

Other projects on the bid list include making railroad safety improvements: installing signs and marking at more than a handful of railroad crossings, where there are no posted warnings for drivers.

For Blanchard, he's watching to see if anything happens with the bridge near his house that he says has been a concern since he moved in, in 2001.

"If you look at the timbers on the bridge, they're rotten. They keep shoring it up, every six months. It's a problem."

Danae Leake

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